Houston Independent School Technology Plan for

Introduction  Technology is a common word within the walls of every school sponsored by the United States government  Shaping the lives of students with technology has developed into a plan that each district must follow for success  Technology is not functionally without human interaction  Planning is construction and implementation is learning

Technology Plan an (Overview) Houston Independent School District

E xecutive Summary  The plan build upon a series of directions that the district is trying to taking with technology.  Student learning and elevated instruction is one goal that the plan hopes to accomplish.  A five year timeframe is used to define the plan

Creating the Plan Five Strategic Goals G1: Increase student achievement G2: Increase management efficiency G3: Improve public support and confidence G4: Create a positive district culture G5: Provide facilities to standard program

Five Major Steps of Planning and Implementation

Timeline  Year 1 February 2006 to June 2007  Year 2 July 2007 to June 2008  Year 3 July 2008 to June 2009  Year 4 July 2009 to June 2010  Year 5 July 2010 to June 2011

Findings  F1 The goals are known by staff and do influence their planning  F2 A program management office is being planned  F3 Major applications are being used (SAP, People Soft, and Chancery)  F5 The HISD Portal is a good tool for enhancing communication and collaboration desired by staff  F6 HISD information systems operate independently  F7 Information systems should interoperate

Findings  F8 There is a need for unified student record that provides access to all of the data about students  F9 User support needs to be enhanced with the technology support systems  F10 Effective Data management in all schools  F11 Technology should undergo a refresh period  F12 District wide standards should be used

Recommendations within Plan  Organize HISD technology resources around five program areas:  Strategic Management and Accountability  Learning Support and Planning  Unified Student Record  Administrative Systems  Technology Systems

Implementation will address the following Technology Initiatives Instructional Information Solutions- Contribute to learning support and planning by providing timely access to information in a format that facilitates use for instruction Student Information Solutions – Support student data management by managing and delivering the software systems used to enroll, schedule, grade and document academic progress

Implementation will address the following Technology Initiatives  Accountability Information  Solution – Support accountability reporting by providing automated information systems that assist in collecting, analyzing and reporting information  Administrative Information  Solution – Automate the administrative systems for efficiency and reliability

Implementation will address the following Technology Initiatives  Technology Infrastructure  Solution – Provide infrastructure that connects teacher, students, support staff, and parents to the information they need  Data Governance  Solution - Implement a data management process driven by a vision for a common data architecture and policy for data integrity, quality, and security

Implementation will address the following Technology Initiatives  Central Support Organization  Solution – Continue the implementation of best practices for the technical support Help Desk.  Portal  Solution – Continue the implementation of the employee and community portals.

Implementation will address the following Technology Initiatives  Cross Department Collaboration  Solution – Establish a model of cross departmental collaboration and teamwork by further solidifying and refining the program manager structure.  Emerging Technologies  Solution – Monitor emerging technologies that can be applied to teaching, learning, and the operation of the District.

Implementation will address the following Technology Initiatives  Technology Standards  Solutions – Establish baseline standards for instructional and administrative technology for all schools and departments.  Technology Equity  Solutions – Establish a technology equity process that prioritizes technology dollars to bring all schools and offices to standard, in order of greatest need

Technology Programs: Focus and Organization  The programs defined by this plan provides the goals and purpose of the district. These goals correlates to the Long- Range Strategic Plan for Technology

The Plan  The plan will move HISD toward its goals through the application and use of technology.

Texas Long Range Plan for Technology  Texas led the nation in it’s implementation of the Texas Long Range Plan for today’s school. The intent of the plan is to provide Texas student and teacher with a road map that will lead to leadership in technology within our schools.

The National Education Technology Plan  The National Education Technology Plan was developed to tie in the goals of student achievement and technology  The plan was developed so that states could monitor their outcomes, collaborate, to redesign structures, and hold themselves accountable for progress and results

Suggestions for Improvements  The plan that HISD has put in place has many positive points  There are some suggestions that should be made based on resources  The first suggestions is that the district monitor school websites that are being used for public viewing. We should use well-executed markup that is consistent and easily understood by anyone working on your site, we should not “fake” markups or take shortcuts (Kaiser, 2006).

Suggestions for Improvements  The district should implement a tracking system that can be used by the students. Pilter, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007)suggestion that having students keep a track of their effort and achievement is a good classroom practice for teacher could contain some truth. Students seem to learn better if they have a road map to follow and they can compensate for their mistakes. 

References Kaiser, S. (2006). Deliver first class web sites. Collingwood, VIC Australia: Sitepoints Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.